Delphi Automotive eyes acquisitions: report

2 IN. DI LETTURA

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. auto parts supplier Delphi Automotive Plc (DLPH.N) is seeking acquisitions to boost its Asia-Pacific presence and expand its core businesses, the company’s chief executive said in an interview to the Financial Times on Monday.

Rodney O’Neal told the newspaper that the power train, electrical and electronics sectors were priority targets for Delphi, which went public last week.

O’Neal said fourth-quarter production schedules “look very strong” and added that he remained “very optimistic” for 2012, according to the article.

German luxury carmakers, Delphi’s biggest customers, “are not downbeat at all. They’re very upbeat,” he told the newspaper.

Delphi Automotive was not immediately available for comment.

Delphi has whittled down its business since filing for bankruptcy in 2005 after it succumbed to high costs for wages and legacy benefits inherited in its spinoff from U.S. automaker General Motors Co (GM.N) in 1999.

The company came out of four years in bankruptcy in 2009 after GM and hedge funds Silver Point Capital LP and Elliott Management took a controlling stake in the company.

Earlier this year, it bought back the stakes held by GM and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp for about $4.4 billion in a bid to simplify its capital structure.